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Some questions about lifestyle in USA - based on movies :-)

b_line said:
$350,000 per year puts you in the top 1 or 2% in the world as far as earnings go. The sexy city ladies probably would have to make like at least $200k to afford their lifestyle. Not a valid representation at all.
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$200,000 isn't going THAT far in NYC. Trust me on this.
 
Gameface said:
I don't think Al Bundy would be able to afford a single family home on a shoe salesman's wage, especially not with a stay at home wife. That's a job that would be very close to minimum wage.
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A perfect representation of how times have changed. In the 70's and even 80's (when MWC first started) it was commonplace for working class people to own modest homes. Yeah, the one-salary, shoe-salesman thing was a bit of a stretch; but not too much to make it unbelievable.

Today it would be impossible
 
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candrew said:
A perfect representation of how times have changed. In the 70's and even 80's (when MWC first started) it was commonplace for working class people to own modest homes. Yeah, the one-salary, shoe-salesman thing was a bit of a stretch; but not too much to make it unbelievable.

Today it would be impossible
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However, is it really possible that the persons shown in the Training Day (where Denzel Washington is the bad guy) own that kind of houses in California? I would have thought that you need quite a big income to have house near LA, specially if you are related somehow to the gangs etc.
 
lauriandres said:
However, is it really possible that the persons shown in the Training Day (where Denzel Washington is the bad guy) own that kind of houses in California? I would have thought that you need quite a big income to have house near LA, specially if you are related somehow to the gangs etc.
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Never seen the movie, but gangs/criminals don't pay much in taxes so that gives them a big leg up for one thing. The criminal's 100 k income is worth a lot more than a professional's 100k. Plus gangs often times have the whole boarding house situation going on. Buy a decent sized pad, throw half the gang in there to help with bills.

Keep in mind that these real estate markets in the cities you're taking about are not your average markets being priced off local jobs, wages, supply, demand, etc. anymore. 2015 is a whole different world from Al Bundy America. They are totally distorted markets now. You've got land protections. Then you've got laundered foreign money from China/Russia, etc. floating about everywhere. Mexicans pooling money with multiple families to buy houses they couldn't normally afford. Hedge Funds like BlackRock buying everything up.....just because they can. Non functioning interest rate environmest. It's a fools game to be an average person looking for that first house in these places.
 
Duck Rodgers said:
Never seen the movie, but gangs/criminals don't pay much in taxes so that gives them a big leg up for one thing. The criminal's 100 k income is worth a lot more than a professional's 100k. Plus gangs often times have the whole boarding house situation going on. Buy a decent sized pad, throw half the gang in there to help with bills. A lot of gangs have been priced out in some ways though too. For instance, about an hour away from Los Angeles is a place called San Bernardino that's a gang ridden dump now, but it was supposedly nice back in the day. No doubt a lot of previous residents of Los Angeles hoods helped turn it that way.

Keep in mind that these real estate markets in the cities you're taking about are not your average markets being priced off local jobs, wages, supply, demand, etc. They are totally distorted markets. You've got land protections. Then you've got laundered money from China/Russia, etc. floating about everywhere. Mexicans pooling money with multiple family members to buy houses they couldn't normally afford. Hedge Funds like BlackRock buying everything up.....just because they can. Non functioning interest rate environment. It's a fools game to be an average person looking for that first house in these places.
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Lol that "professionals" pay taxes.
 
Duck Rodgers said:
Never seen the movie, but gangs/criminals don't pay much in taxes so that gives them a big leg up for one thing. The criminal's 100 k income is worth a lot more than a professional's 100k. Plus gangs often times have the whole boarding house situation going on. Buy a decent sized pad, throw half the gang in there to help with bills.

Keep in mind that these real estate markets in the cities you're taking about are not your average markets being priced off local jobs, wages, supply, demand, etc. anymore. 2015 is a whole different world from Al Bundy America. They are totally distorted markets now. You've got land protections. Then you've got laundered foreign money from China/Russia, etc. floating about everywhere. Mexicans pooling money with multiple families to buy houses they couldn't normally afford. Hedge Funds like BlackRock buying everything up.....just because they can. Non functioning interest rate environmest. It's a fools game to be an average person looking for that first house in these places.
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About the property prices: how can a police department in Manhattan hire police(wo)men, if the housing is expensive in NYC? I have heard that the salary for ordinary police (those who patrol on the streets) is not that high and to work in Manhattan - that means they probably have to drive/ride at least 20-50 miles per day from home to the police department? Is the salary good enough to compensate transportation etc.
 
lauriandres said:
About the property prices: how can a police department in Manhattan hire police(wo)men, if the housing is expensive in NYC? I have heard that the salary for ordinary police (those who patrol on the streets) is not that high and to work in Manhattan - that means they probably have to drive/ride at least 20-50 miles per day from home to the police department? Is the salary good enough to compensate transportation etc.
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To be a NYC cop you have to live in NY. And yes it's very tough for cops to make ends meet the first few years - I think most of them log a ton of overtime.

I'm not sure what the pay scale is but my understanding is cops do OK financially after the first couple of years on the force.
 
lauriandres said:
About the property prices: how can a police department in Manhattan hire police(wo)men, if the housing is expensive in NYC? I have heard that the salary for ordinary police (those who patrol on the streets) is not that high and to work in Manhattan - that means they probably have to drive/ride at least 20-50 miles per day from home to the police department? Is the salary good enough to compensate transportation etc.
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Native NY'er here. What you've heard is true in the city...(Conversely: On Long Island you will find the highest paid cops in the country). The starting salary is **** for city cops(I think its like ~$39K), and their responsible for buying most of their equipment to start. If that job didn't appeal to people's need to own a title/feel important, or to just go out there and genuinely try to help, they might have a tough time hiring.

As for the commute. That's just a part of the urban lifestyle for most working in NY, and their unfazed by it. Workers come from all directions, New Jersey, Upstate, Long Island and the Burroughs.

Many officers end up sharing apartments and living in crappy parts of town with cheap rent that are hopefully, 15-25 minutes away from where they need to report.
 
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